


Halftime

by Katieb161



Series: Love and the Game [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, American Football, Fluff and Angst, Love, Mild Smut, Mystery, Sports
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-19
Updated: 2018-05-22
Packaged: 2019-05-08 23:41:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 15,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14704926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katieb161/pseuds/Katieb161
Summary: Westallen Sports AUIn this sequel to Touchdown, Barry and Iris navigate their relationship, Barry deals with the aftermath of the big game and Iris follows a big investigation.It is recommended that you read the first installment as this story picks right up where the last one ended.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Mild smut in this chapter

It had been two months since the happiest day of Barry's life. His team won a championship, he was an MVP Quarterback and the love of his life agreed to marry him. He had been riding this high and there were no signs of him coming down anytime soon.

He and Iris had just touched down in Hawaii. The trip was part of his winnings from getting the MVP of the game. Neither of them had ever been, so they were excited to experience it together. When they got to the room, Iris was running around like a little school girl looking at and touching everything.

They had a nice private bungalow with an accordion door that led out to the beach. There was also a Jacuzzi tub in the bathroom, and one on the back patio. Barry made a mental note to have Iris in both of them. He stretched out on the bed and kicked off his flip flops. Iris jumped on him as soon as he got comfortable.

"What do you wanna do first?" she asked him.

He pulled her down and rolled her underneath him. "You." He answered with a deep kiss.

"We have plenty of time for that babe. Let's go down to the water. Don't you want to see me in my bikini?" Iris was being flirty. Barry liked flirty.

"I guess that's the next best thing." He kissed her again and moved so that she could get up. When she came out of the bathroom, Barry forgot all about going to the beach. Iris was wearing a red string bikini. She knew it was his favorite color. Any time she wore it, he was ready to have her.

"Babe, hurry up and get your trunks on." She was putting some towels and sunscreen into a bag to take down to the beach. Barry came out with his trunks on and hugged Iris from behind. She turned around and leaned up for a kiss before pushing him back.

"Race you." Iris took off with Barry hot on her trail. Once they reached the sand he picked her up bridal style and spun her around. He pulled her into a kiss before he sat her down. Iris laid out the towels and applied sunscreen to the both of them.

She stood up and started to put her hair in a messy bun. All Barry could do was stare at her. She was so beautiful. He wanted to look into her eyes and caress her face. Kiss all over her chest and run his tongue over her flat stomach. And her thighs drove him crazy, he just wanted to put his head in between them.

His thoughts were finally broken when she pulled him up from the towel and towards the water. They walked as far as they could stand in the water and stopped. Barry snatched Iris by her waist and pulled her close to him. He leaned down and placed his lips on hers. She invited his tongue into her mouth and sucked and pulled on it until she had her fill. Barry would have been happy to just do this the whole week that they would be on the island.

"I love you." He whispered in her ear.

"I love you too." she replied. She then proceeded to push Barry so hard he fell back, under the water. Iris tried run out of the water before he caught her, but she was way too slow for him. Both laughing he picked her up and ran them both to the water where he dunked her. They played like this until they got hungry.

Since it was their first night, they decided to order room service instead of going out. They dined on Steak, lobster and champagne, Iris' favorite. After dinner they decided to spend some time in the outdoor Jacuzzi. This time, they didn't wear their swim suits.

Iris got on the pill as soon as they got engaged. She wanted to be able to let him have her whenever, wherever. She knew that Barry would never leave her, but in the back of her mind she still worried about the life of a pro athlete. Not to mention the incident with Patty. Iris just wanted to make sure that he wouldn't have any reason to want to be anywhere else. Honestly, if Barry even knew that she had those thoughts, he would do anything in his power to erase them.

Barry got in the tub first and Iris sat down in front of him. They both leaned back and enjoyed the bubbles. Barry had his arms around her when she broke the silence, "So we haven't really talked about the wedding. I don't know if you want to get married soon or have a long engagement. We can't get married during the season, so that will limit us. What do you think?"

"Iris, I would marry you anytime, anywhere," he kissed her on the top of her head, "I want to get married when you are comfortable. I know we got engaged pretty quickly, I just want to make sure we do this when you are ready to."

She turned around to face Barry, "Okay," she kissed him, "I love you." Iris sat up just enough so that she could lower herself on to him. He hugged her close and they moved together as one. He peppered kisses all over her neck while she moaned into his ear. They both finished at the same time.

They eventually got out of the tub and into the bed. They enjoyed each other a few more times before Iris fell asleep on Barry's chest. He kissed her head and drifted off to sleep himself.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry and Iris both try to get back to their routine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the support!

Barry and Iris returned from their trip rested and relaxed. They had couples massages on the beach, went scuba diving and parasailing. They took all the tourist tours around the island. One guide led them on a hike to a secluded waterfall. It was absolutely beautiful. They climbed up to the top and jumped into the water. It was so liberating. The last night there, they went to a luau. They decided that Hawaii was their place now and no one else could have it.

It was easy for Iris to fall back into her normal routine. It was off season for Barry, so he didn't have practice to worry about. He still would go to the gym everyday. He would usually meet up with the guys to workout. They all had become really close since the start of the last season. Barry actually considered Oliver to be his best friend, after Iris of course.

He had a meeting scheduled with Cisco. Being a championship winning MVP meant that a lot of companies were looking for give him endorsement deals. Money was never anything he worried about, and these deals could be lucrative. He just wasn't sure if he wanted to be the face of something.

He walked into Cisco's office while he was on the phone. Cisco waived him in and he went and sat down at his desk.

"Well you tell him that if they can't come up on the incentive, he is going to take another offer. Uh huh, yeah, well get back to me." Cisco hung the phone up and turned to Barry, "Sorry about that. You know how these deals go. So how was Hawaii?"

"It was great actually. Clearest waters I've ever seen."

"I took Cynthia for our anniversary last year, that island is magical. Anyways, listen, we need to talk about these endorsements."

Barry's hand instantly shot up to the back of his head. "Look, I know they are great opportunities, but I don't know Cisco, having my face everywhere, that just isn't me."

"Look dude, I know that you are apprehensive, I get it. But Nike is offering you $60 million on a 3 year deal. You got to at least consider it. If not for you, then for me, because I get 10%."

Barry chuckled at that last part. "Okay man, I will consider it."

"Good. Now let's talk about what Gatorade is offering."

"Cisco, how about you give me a list of the offers and I will take it home, talk it over with my future wife, and then get back to you?"

"Okay man," Cisco got up, walked over to Barry and placed his hands on his shoulders, "But please for the sake of Beebo pick at least one. I need to get paid."

Barry laughed again as he stood up. "Alright man."

 

 

Iris had a lot of catching up to do at work. She had been gone a week and a lot happened while they were on their trip. There was a fire that took down an entire city block, a rash of bank robberies, and complaints of a contaminated water supply. Iris was reading over the daily briefing when Linda walked into her office.

"Welcome back chick. You look very well rested and turned out."

"I can honestly say yes to both of those. That island is amazing Linda, you have to go."

"Yeah, well we don't all have a millionaire fiancee." Iris looked at Linda. "I'm kidding, you know I don't need no man. Anyways, while you were gone, this came for you." She handed her a small envelope.

"Do you know who sent it?" Iris asked.

"No, it came by messenger."

"Thanks." Iris said to Linda as she left her office. Iris got up from her desk and closed the door. She sat back down and opened the envelope. It was a list of dates. They went back as for as seven years. At the bottom of the paper was one word. Zolomon.

Someone knew that Iris had been investigating the doctor. But who? She had only openly spoke about it with a few people. And she is always careful to cover her tracks if she is snooping somewhere she shouldn't be. Whoever sent this wants her to dig deeper. She folded up the paper and tucked it in her desk.

Last time she and Barry talked about Dr. Zolomon, they had a fight. She decided not to tell him about this, for now. She didn't want to make it a habit to keep secrets from him. But she needed to know more before she brought it up.

When she got home that night, Barry had already made dinner. He was good like that, especially since it was the off season. They sat down together to eat. "How was your day?" she asked him.

"Good, I worked out with the guys, then I saw Cisco."

"Oh yeah, how did that go?"

"Well Nike wants to pay me $60 million."

Iris nearly spit out the wine she had just sipped. "60 million, babe, that's great. But?"

"I just don't know if I want to become a celebrity."

"Well, you're already a local celebrity, that hasn't been too bad has it?"

"No, but if I do a big endorsement deal, it will be all over the country, possibly world wide. People would be constantly digging into my past and judging me on a whole other scale."

"Babe listen," Iris set her hand on top of his, "No matter what other people may think or say about you, you know who you are, and I know who you are. The rest of it shouldn't matter. And think about it like this, if you are celebrity, you will have a platform to be able to do good."

Barry leaned across the table and kissed Iris. "You're right, your always right. I love you."

"I love you too."

"So how was it being back at work. Anything exciting happen."

Now would have been the time where Iris told Barry about the letter. Instead she simply answered, "Just a normal day at the office," and continued eating.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iris continues her investigation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is another chapter. Like I said before, I have a LOT of free time right now. I like to get a few chapters written and then post, so it won't be uncommon to get updates several times a day. Hope you enjoy..thanks xx

Iris spent the next day trying to find out who sent the letter. Linda told her who the messenger service was, so she started there. She went to the shop and started asking questions. All she was able to find out was that it was a woman and she paid cash. The letter was delivered the day after she left for Hawaii, Iris didn't think that was a coincidence. She had hoped they had cameras there, but they didn't.

She thought about taking the letter to CCPD to see if they could get any prints lifted off of it, but then she remembered who was in the lab. Iris hadn't been to CCPD since the incident. Eventually she would have to get over it. She won. But in the back of her mind she knew if she saw Patty, it would not end well.

Iris went back to CCPN disappointed. She sat down at her desk and sighed. She wasn't sure what her next step would be. She put the Zolomon investigation to the side and started working on her article about the upcoming school board election. The current board president was caught in a embezzlement scandal and was forced to resign. They had to hold a special election to find his replacement.

She was half way through the article when Barry showed up. He had just left the gym and was in the area. He didn't mean to interrupt her work, he just wanted to see her. He had decided that he was going to sign three endorsement deals. He was set to make more money than he could ever dream of.

He walked into her office and gave her a kiss on the cheek before going to sit down on the sofa in the corner. Iris got up from her desk and went to sit next to him.

"Hey babe, everything okay?"

"Yeah, " Barry answered, "I just wanted to see you. Plus I couldn't wait to tell you that I made the decision on the endorsements."

"And? Who did you choose?"

"Nike, Gatorade and Fitbit. Cisco will be pleased."

"I bet he will at 10%," Iris laughed, "Well, I guess I have to take you out tonight to celebrate."

"Sounds like a plan, you should invite your dad and Wally too. We can show them all of our photos from the trip and give them their souvenirs."

"Okay, I will call them and set it up. Will 7pm be okay?"

"Yeah. Well, I am going to get out of your hair. I think I need a nap, pushed it a little too hard at the gym today." Barry leaned over and gave Iris a kiss goodbye. "I'll see you at home later. I love you."

"Love you too," Iris responded as he was walking out of her office.

She had pretty much finished her article. She just needed a few more quotes. She made a call to the school board HQ to see if she could get a good one. They were reluctant to say anything at first, but Iris could be very persuasive. Once she got what she needed, she finished up the article and sent it to her editor for approval.

They made plans to meet for sushi. Iris didn't have enough time to go home first, so she had everyone meet at the restaurant. She was happy to see that Wally brought Jessie as well. Iris liked Jessie. She was in her senior year at CCU. She was a pre-med student and was set to start Med school in the fall. She wanted to be a sports doctor, which would definitely come in handy. Iris didn't think about it when she met her, but she was starting to think that Jessie may be able to help with the Zolomon investigation.

Barry and Wally spent almost the whole dinner talking about robots. Joe looked utterly bored. Finally Iris decided to talk about their trip in order to include everyone in the conversation. She pulled out her ipad and started showing off the pictures. Joe commented on how happy they looked and how happy he was for them. He started getting teary eyed talking about how he couldn't wait to walk his little girl down the aisle. When he mentioned something about being called 'paw paw', Iris knew it was time to end the night.

Once she and Barry were in bed ready to turn in he asked her, "You know, I did hear your dad talking about being a grandfather. Is that something that you would like? I mean to have kids with me?"

Iris turned to him, "I mean, I have thought about it. Eventually I would love to have your children. I just think we should wait a little bit after we get married. Just enjoy each other for a while."

"I understand. There isn't anything wrong with practicing though right?" He asked, giving her those bedroom eyes he always gives her when he is ready to attack her.

Iris crawled over to him and planted a kiss on his lips, "If you want we can practice right now."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry signs his endorsement deals

Two days later, Barry was set to meet with Cisco, his lawyer, and the representatives from the 3 companies that he was to sign the endorsement deals with. He met with Cisco and his lawyer first. Barry didn't really trust lawyers but Carter Hall came highly recommended. They sat in the conference room and prepared for their first meeting.

The Nike representative was the first to arrive. He was excited to be the first brand to get Barry to sign with them. The deal was worth $60 million for 3 years. He was expected to be in several print and TV ad campaigns. Barry would get all his money upfront instead of spread out over the term of the deal. There was a good reason that Cisco was his agent. After Carter checked over paperwork, Barry signed on that dotted line. Everyone took a picture. "Welcome to Nike." The representative said before he left.

"One down, two to go," exclaimed Cisco. He seemed to be more excited about the deals than Barry was. Next in was Fitbit. Their rep brought Barry a bunch of gifts. He thought maybe signing these deals wouldn't be so bad. They were only going to be using Barry in print campaigns and live events. They offered him $10 million for 2 years. Because they were a smaller company, that money would be paid out over the 2 years instead of upfront.

Lastly was Gatorade. They offered $40 million over 5 years with 50% upfront. He was expected to be in Print and TV campaigns and live events as well. As the signing was coming to an end, Barry wondered how he would be able to fit all of this into his schedule. As long as it did not interfere with his Iris time, he could make it work.

Cisco's assistant made copies of all the paperwork so each of them could have one. While they were waiting Carter brought something up, "Hey, so I know that you are engaged now. Have you picked a date yet?"

"No, not yet, "Barry answered, "We are just kind of enjoying the engagement, we aren't in any rush."

"Great, that will give me time to draw up the prenup."

"Prenup?" Barry questioned.

"Dude, you just made $110 million in a few hours, a prenup may not be a bad idea." Cisco added.

"Yeah, but a prenup means you might get divorced and that is definitely not happening with me and Iris." Barry started to feel uneasy about the line of questioning.

"Jordan said the same thing. Look just think about it okay. We have time to draft one if you decide that you want it." Carter wanted to push more, but just left it at that.

Barry didn't even want to think about having to discuss it with Iris. Getting a prenup was never even something he considered. I mean it would be smart, but he didn't want Iris getting any ideas that he wasn't in this for the long haul. He decided that he would talk to Oliver about it first. He seemed like the perfect person to give him advice. He called him and asked if he could meet him at Jitters.

"Congratulations on your endorsements BA." Oliver dapped him up when he got to the table Barry was waiting at.

"Thanks man."

"So what did you want to talk about?"

"Well, at the signings, my lawyer brought up getting a prenup."

Oliver sat back in his chair and nodded, "And how do you feel about that?"

"I dunno. I mean, how do I ask the woman that I love to sign a paper that discusses terms of a breakup?"

"Look, I know you love her man. But I also understand the needs to protect yourself."

"Did you make Felicity sign one?"

"Nope," Oliver stated flatly, "To be honest, Felicity was the one who asked me about it first. She wanted me to feel secure that if anything were to happen, she wasn't going to try to clean me out. I actually had to be the one to convince her not to sign one, and I have a billion dollar inheritance. My father isn't too pleased though."

Barry sat there and thought about it for a moment.

"Look," Oliver continued, "I know it may be a touchy subject, but I think Iris would be more than open to at least discuss it. You don't have to sign one, but at least talk to her about it."

Barry agreed, "Thanks Oliver, your always there with the good advice."

"You're welcome. Now since you are rich now, how about you treat me to lunch,"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter may be a little shorter this time around, however, it may also depend on the story. Thanks again for reading xx


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iris gets deeper into her investigation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the support xx Enjoy!

Iris finally had some free time to be able to work on her investigation of the doctor. She wasn't quite sure about the dates on the letter she received, but she could still interview people. After her fight with Barry about Zolomon, she wasn't going to touch anything related to the Cougars. Yet. She wanted to make sure she was 100% certain something was going on with the team. She knew something had to be going on because she remembered seeing a folder with Zolomon's name on it at the medical facility.

Her first stop was to a well known gym just at the edge of town that was rumored to have a personal trainer, Nate Heywood, that had a relationship with the good doc. She dressed up in her workout gear and walked in to scope the place out. She noticed a few of Central City's baseball players working out. She luckily didn't see any Cougars players there.

She had been there about 20 mins when she noticed that the trainer in question was in his office with someone. Iris made her way over to the elliptical machine closest to the office door so she could get a good look through the window. She couldn't hear anything, but she saw something that caught her attention. Whoever Nate was talking to handed him an envelope. Iris wasn't sure what it was until she saw him take a wad of money out and count it. Now this was an interesting development.

Iris had to find out who this guy was paying Nate. Now, under any other circumstances, she would have thought that the guy was just paying him for his personal training services. But, something just didn't seem right about it. When the Nate walked his client out of his office. Iris inconspicuously followed him out. She saw him get into a black BMW. Iris made sure to get the license plate before he pulled off.

She looked at the time. It was going to take her at least 2 hours to get home from here and it was already 4pm. Barry had told her that he wanted to talk to her about something important when she got home. As she was getting in her car, she didn't notice that she was being watched ever since she left the gym.

Barry was happy to see Iris when she got home. He had been waiting for her anxiously, knowing they needed to talk about the prenup issue. He wanted to bring it up last night after he had talked to Oliver, but Iris came home from work a bit stressed, so he decided to hold off. He made sure to pick up some brownies and mint chocolate chip ice cream just in case.

Iris was laying back on the sofa when Barry walked over and sat down next to her, taking her legs and sitting them in his lap. He started to massage her feet when he began, "So you know Carter was at the endorsement signing."

"Yeah, I remember you told me," she responded.

"Well he seemed to be happy to hear about our engagement."

"He's sweet. We need to make sure he gets an invite to the wedding."

Barry was having a hard time getting to the point. He started rubbing the back of his head. Iris took notice and turned off the TV, sitting up. "Barry, what is it?"

He took a deep breath, "Carter seemed to think that we needed a prenup before we got married."

"Oh," Iris thought for a moment, "And what do you think?" she asked.

"Iris, I love you and I don't ever want to be with anyone else. When we get married, it will be until death do us part." He reached over and grabbed her hand and placed a kiss on her palm.

She smiled, "I know that." She paused for a moment, "but I can understand if you want to protect yourself. I'll sign one if you want me to."

He looked at Iris' eyes. She didn't seem mad or upset. There was just a look of love and understanding. Barry didn't think that he could be more in love with her than he already was, but Iris had a way of doing that to him. He decided at that moment, that he wasn't going to make her sign anything. If it didn't work out, it would probably be because of something he did. If that was the case then she would deserve whatever she wanted.

He breathed a sigh of relief that this conversation went a lot better than it could have. He turned back on the TV and they continued watching the nightly news. Iris fell asleep on the sofa. Barry picked her up and took her to bed. He slept a lot better than he thought he would that night.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry has his first photo shoot, Iris gets some help

Barry had his first photo shoot with Nike. He showed up to the set a bit nervous. He wasn't a model, he was a football player. Luckily, this one wasn't a solo shoot. He was glad there were other people around while he was getting his sea legs. He was shooting with Kara Danvers, an up and coming tennis star and James Olsen, the basketball leagues rookie of the year.

The shoot went really well and Barry had a lot of fun. He ended up exchanging numbers with James and Kara. He didn't expect to make any new friends out of it, but he was happy to get to know them. He left the shoot and went to the gym to meet up with the guys for a workout.

"...so a flash goes off and it wakes me up. Next thing I know, I'm on TMZ." Ronnie was sharing a story about his latest conquest.

"Man, that's why I tell them no cell phones. Especially if they are coming to my house," Scott added.

"See the problem is that ya'll need to get a good girl like Kendra." Jax was smiling talking about his girlfriend.

"Your talking like you might be ready to settle down Jax," Barry observed.

"I dunno, maybe. I mean we have been dating for a few years now. I just don't know if I am ready yet."

"Well trust me, when you know, you know. I proposed to Iris after 6 months and a break up. By the way, I would like you guys to be my groomsmen." Barry had already asked Oliver to be his best man, he accepted.

"Hell ya BA, wouldn't miss it," answered Scott. Ronnie and Jax also agreed.

"When is this wedding anyways?" asked Ronnie.

"We haven't picked a date yet. Shoot, I would marry Iris tonight if I could, but I think she wants a long engagement."

"She signing a prenup?" Scott was curious.

"We talked about it, but I decided that I don't want her to." That statement caused all the guys to stop what they were doing and look at Barry like he was crazy. Oliver however just gave Barry a smirk and nodded his head.

 

Iris had a contact at the DMV. She had sent her the license plate number that she had gotten from the gym. She was working on an article when she got a call. Turns out the car belonged to a Mick Rory. Iris was surprised to hear that name. He was a defensive end on the Cougars. He wasn't the guy she saw at the gym so he had to work for Rory. She finally had a connection to the team. She just needed to prove that he was involved with the doc. If she could find proof, she could finally talk to Barry about what was going on.

She pulled out the letter again and started looking at the dates. She decided that she would start with a google search. Nothing really came out of it. They all seemed random. She finally realized that she was going to need some help. She made a phone call. "Hey, it's Iris. Could you meet me at Jitters?"

When she got to Jitters and Eddie was already there waiting for her. She sat down at the table and took the coffee that he had already ordered for her.

"So Iris," he started, "to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Well...I am investigating Dr. Hunter Zolomon."

"Zolomon? That's the doctor that works with all of those athletes right?"

"Yeah, well I got a tip that he has been supplying steroids to athletes all over the city. He is even working with some of the teams directly."

"Wow, that's a big story."

"Yeah, and the other day I went to that seedy gym on the edge of town. I think that Nate Heywood is working with the doc."

"And what makes you think that?"

"Well, I saw someone in his office hand him an envelope full of cash. I followed the guy and got his plates. Turns out, the car is registered to a Cougars player."

Eddie became a bit unsettled. Iris continued, "Then when I came back from my trip to Hawaii, someone had anonymously sent me a letter with a bunch of dates and the name Zolomon at the bottom."

"Iris, this sounds like it could get dangerous if you dig too deep. Does Barry know about the investigation?"

Iris looked down at the table but didn't answer.

"Iris! You have to tell Barry , you can't keep this from him."

"I know, I know. I will tell him, eventually. I just need a little more information."

Eddie looked at her disapprovingly. "Okay, I will help you, but you have to promise me you are going to tell Barry."

Iris smiled wide at him, "Thank you so much Eddie. Now if I give you the list of dates, could you cross reference them with anything?"

Eddie took the letter, "I'll see what I can do."

They sat and talked for a bit longer then got up to leave at the same time. Outside the cafe they said their goodbyes.

"Thank you again Eddie. You'll call me if you find something."

"I got you Iris." Eddie leaned in for a hug and whispered into her ear, "Tell Barry." Across the street, someone was taking photos.

Iris started walking towards her car when Barry called. "Hey Babe..no I just left CCPN...yeah I'll be home soon...I love you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no clue if guys really talk like that in the locker room.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> date night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mild smut
> 
> The song 'Wild thought's' by DJ Khaled was the inspiration for the date scene.

Barry felt like he hadn't had any real quality time with Iris, so he planned a night out for them. When she got home from work he told her to get dressed, they were going out. Iris liked the surprise and went to get ready. She came downstairs wearing a pair of black leather pants and a lacy white top. She topped it off with the red pumps that always drove Barry crazy. He almost said forget the night out and take her back upstairs, but he controlled himself. He walked over and planted a lingering kiss on her lips. "You look amazing."

They went out to eat at their favorite sushi place. Barry and Iris talked and knocked back several sake bombs. She didn't realize how much she missed their quality time. They really hadn't spent a night like this since Hawaii. He decided to take her dancing after dinner.

The went to 'ViBE'. Ever since the night of the championship game, it's become one of their favorite places to hang out. They were greeted warmly by all the staff and were led to the VIP section. Barry ordered a bottle of Iris' favorite champagne. The club was packed as it was Friday night.

Barry was sitting on the sofa while Iris was standing near him, dancing by herself to the hip hop music. Barry was in awe of her. He took in the way she moved her hips and the sexy look on her face while she was doing it. He walked up behind her and grabbed her hips. The started moving their hips together to the rhythm of the music. Barry was actually a pretty good dancer. Iris turned around to face him as they continued to move together.

Iris stood up on her toes and pulled him down for a kiss. She licked his lips open and slowly slid her tongue into his mouth. She could still taste the sake they had drank earlier. The stood there dancing and kissing for the next few songs. Iris excused her self to the restroom leaving Barry by himself for a moment. Shortly after she walked away, two women walked up to Barry.

"Oh my god, are you Barry Allen?" one of the girls asked. Barry could tell she was drunk. She tried to get closer to him. "I've always wanted to sleep with a football player."

Barry was a bit disgusted. Sure a few years ago he might have been all over that, but now he only had eyes for one person. "Sorry, my fiancee will be back any minute. I'm not interested."

"Your loss." the girl said as she walked off with her friend. Just as she walked off, Barry saw Iris standing there. He thought she would be upset.

She walked up to him and pulled in him into a kiss. She whispered in his ear, "Babe, seeing all these women wanting you and you turning them down is so sexy. Let's get out of here."

Barry didn't need her to ask again, he flagged down the bottle girl and paid the tab. Iris dragged him out of the club and to the car. She pulled them into the back seat. She couldn't make it until they got home. She straddled Barry, kissing him, as he struggled to get her pants off. He finally was successful, he put his hand under her panties and she moaned. She needed all of him. She got his pants off and got on top of him. She started slowly and worked into a faster pace. Barry couldn't take it. "Iris, you need to hurry." She barely was able to finish before he did.

He kissed her on her forehead. "Let's get married tonight."

Iris laughed. "Get dressed so we can go home and do that again."

The next morning, they decided to just lay around at home all day. Barry ran out and got coffee and pastries from Jitters to greet Iris when she woke up. The were lounging and eating breakfast in bed when Iris got a text. It was Eddie.

**Sorry, no luck with the dates you gave me**

Iris was a bit disappointed, she wasn't at square one, but this was a set back. Barry could tell that she was unsettled about something.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked her.

"Yeah babe, I'm fine, just some work stuff."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"No, it's nothing major." Iris started thinking, "Felicity, she went to MIT right?"

"Yeah I think."

"What did she do before she started working for Oliver's company?"

"I think Oliver told me she worked for the government, in cyber security. Why?"

"Nothing, I was reading something about MIT not too long ago and it popped in my head." Iris couldn't tell him that she was working on the doc. Not yet. But she thought that Felicity may be able to help her.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iris makes some progress with her investigation

Monday morning Iris needed to make a run to the bank. She was standing in line waiting for a teller. She was absentmindedly looking around when she looked towards the back of the branch. She was shocked when she saw no other than Dr. Hunter Zolomon. She wanted to get a closer look at what he was doing so she stepped out of line and walked towards the back of the bank. Luckily the bathrooms were in that direction she should would be able to play it off. She was able to make out that he was placing large amounts of cash into his safe deposit box.

"Why would he put cash in a safe deposit box instead of a bank account?" she wondered to herself. All of a sudden, he looked up and saw her looking at him. Iris turned quickly and headed out of the bank and to her car. She wasn't scared, but it rattled her a little bit. Maybe she did need to tell Barry what was going on.

She got to CCPN and went to find Linda. Linda did know that Iris was looking into the doc, but if she knew that Iris was doing all that sneaking around, she would not approve.

"Hey Lin." Iris found Linda in the break room.

"Hey chick. You look like you had a good weekend."

"I did, had great food, went dancing, it was a good time."

"Well, sounds like your weekend was better than mine. Tony decided that he wanted to go hiking this weekend," Linda rolled her eyes, "Of course he didn't mention that he knew nothing about nature and I ended up spending the rest of the weekend treating his poison ivy."

Iris laughed. Linda must really like this guy because she does not do outdoors. They continued talking about their weekend for a little bit longer then Iris went to her office. She sat down and started to open the file on the latest article she was writing when a calendar event went off on her computer. She opened it and stared blankly for a moment.

She reached into her desk and pulled out the letter with the dates. She compared the dates to a calendar. She looked up out of the window. The dates all fell on a Monday. She had just seen the doc at the bank this morning. The money trail. Iris got excited. This was a lead. Iris grabbed her purse and headed out of the office. She had someone she needed to go see.

Barry had spent the day with Fitbit. He was really enjoying these endorsement gigs. They were hosting an event at a local high school. They had sponsored the schools athletic department for a year due to winning a contest. Barry enjoyed meeting the kids and hearing their stories. He tossed around the ball with them and spoke to them about his experience. He couldn't believe he was getting paid to do this, he would have done it for free.

It made him start thinking about life after football. He couldn't play the game forever, and even if he stayed healthy, he may only have 10 years or so before he would have to retire. That would put him around 38, he would still have his whole life in front of him. He hoped by then Iris would have at least had one kid if not more. She said that was something she wanted, but when he brought it up, she didn't seem too enthusiastic about it. But then again, maybe he was just reading in to it too much.

After the day at the school Barry headed home. When he got to the door, there was a large envelope leaning against it. There was no name on it. He picked it up and walked into the loft. He sat his keys on the counter and walked into the kitchen to grab a drink. He sat down on the sofa and opened the package. As he was taking a sip of his drink, he pulled out the contents. In it were photos of Iris and Eddie, standing outside of Jitters, locked in an embrace. Barry spit out what was in his mouth. He grabbed his keys and headed to CCPD.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the short chapter


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iris finally confesses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks again for the support xx

Iris arrived at Queen Consolidated's Central City offices. She took the elevator up to the top floor and walked up to the receptionist.

"Hi, I'm Iris West, is it possible for me to see Felicity Smoak?"

"Sure, have a seat."

Iris sat and waited for about 10 minutes before someone came out and led her back to Felicity's office.

"Iris," Felicity greeted her, "How are you? Is everything okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm sorry to barge in on you like this, but I need your help." Iris explained to her what was going on with her investigation. "I just need to get his financial records."

Felicity looked at Iris concerned and got up and closed her office door. She sat on her desk closer to Iris. "So you are asking me to hack his financials? Iris, not only is this dangerous, it's also very illegal. Does Barry know about this?"

'Why does everyone keep asking that?' Iris thought to herself. She avoided the question. "Look, I know I am asking a lot, but this could be huge. And not just the doc but players and coaches, I mean who knows how far this will go."

Felicity sighed. Iris had become a really close friend of hers. She would also hate it if this scandal hurt Oliver in any way. "Alright, I'll help you. You know you came to the right person, nobody else would be able to do what I am about to do and get away with it."

Iris jumped up and gave Felicity a big hug. "I owe you big."

"Yeah I know, the new Louboutin collection is at that little boutique we like downtown. You can owe me there." They both laughed.

 

Barry showed up a CCPD fuming. He knew Eddie wasn't over Iris, but after everything that happened with Patty he couldn't believe he would try something like that. He stormed over to Joe's desk.

"Where's Eddie!" Barry had a lot of anger in his voice and eyes.

"Barry, what's going on? You need to calm down." Joe attempted to calm him.

"I need to speak with him RIGHT NOW!" Just as Barry said it, Eddie walked around the corner.

"Oh hey Barry," he greeted before Barry grabbed him by his shirt. "Stay away from Iris."

Joe had never seen this side of Barry before. He separated the two, "What is going on here?"

"This guy is trying to steal my fiancee."

"Barry, what are you talking about?" Eddie asked confused.

Barry opened pulled out the photos he had in his back pocket, unfolded them and shoved them towards Eddie. He recognized them from the day he and Iris met at Jitters.

"Your having Iris followed?" He asked. Joe started to look very concerned.

"No, someone left these for me at the loft."

Eddie looked at Joe. "Barry, I am not trying to steal Iris from you. She asked me to help her with the Zolomon investigation. That's all. I promise, I respect your relationship."

Barry started to calm down a bit. Who would send the pictures? And she was back on the doc and didn't tell him. Barry needed to talk to Iris asap. He turned to Eddie. "Hey man, I'm sorry, I saw these photos and something snapped in me."

"It's okay man, Iris can have that affect on you." Eddie patted Barry on the back as he walked away.

"Barry, you okay?" Joe asked.

"Yeah, I just really need to talk to Iris."

Iris got home late that night. "Sorry I'm late babe." Iris shouted as she walked in the door. She wandered into the living room and saw Barry sitting there with a glass of whiskey on the table and something in his hands. "Babe, is everything okay?"

Barry just looked at Iris and handed her the photos. Iris knew what day they were from. "You had me followed?" Iris was confused.

"No, someone left them for me today. Is there anything you want to tell me?"

"Barry, nothing is going on between me and Eddie, I promise."

"I know, I went down to CCPD today and made a fool of myself."

"Barry I-"

"Tell me the truth Iris."

"Fine, I started the investigation into Zolomon again."

Barry took a long breath. Iris continued, "I am actually making headway in the investigation. I got Felicity to--"

"You got Felicity involved?" Barry cut her off, "What were you thinking!"

Iris was taken aback by his response. He continued, "Look Iris, what your doing is dangerous and I don't like it. Someone took photos of you for God's sake! Not only that, but you've been lying to me. When did we start doing that?"

"When you lied to me about Patty," Iris shot back. She knew it was a low blow, but she just kept going. "This is important to me Barry, you can't make me stop."

"Iris, I am going to be your husband, you don't think I deserve a say in this?"

"Barry you promised me that you would support my career!"

"And I do, but I can't support this." There was a long silence. "I'm going out for a while." Barry got up and walked out of the house. Iris couldn't stop her eyes from welling up, shortly thereafter, she felt the hot tears running down her face.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iris gets some new info on the doc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realize that I have been spelling Zolomon wrong, so it has been corrected.

Barry decided to go to the gym to blow off some steam. He went down to the basketball courts and started shooting around. He couldn't believe that Iris had been lying to him. It's true that he didn't want her doing this investigation, but he could have at least tried to support her if she was being honest with him. If she was lying about this, what else was she hiding. Barry tried not the think about that.

He had been there for about an hour when Oliver showed up. Iris had called Felicity in tears. When she told Oliver, he knew exactly where Barry would be. "How about a game of one on one?" He asked when he walked onto the court.

"Sure," Barry answered. They started the game. "So I guess Felicity told you?"

"Yeah, she did."

"Do you think I'm wrong?"

"No. But I think that you and Iris need to have a serious conversation about communication."

"Well, I don't really think I can have that talk with her right now. Did you know that someone followed her and send me photos?"

Oliver's eyes perked up at that. Felicity didn't mention that. "Do you have any idea who would be following her?"

"It could be anybody. I told her that digging into the doc would be dangerous."

"So what are you gonna do?"

"I dunno. I want to get her to stop this investigation, but she is very stubborn. Maybe Joe can talk her out of it."

"Well that could be a start."

They played another game. Barry really didn't want to see Iris while he was still so upset. He didn't want to say anything to her that he couldn't take back. He stayed at Oliver's place that night. He sent Iris a text to let her know that he was not coming home. He tossed and turned all night. He hated that he wasn't holding the woman that he loved. He needed to fix this, he just didn't know how.

Iris woke up the next day and enjoyed the few seconds of happiness before reality set in. Iris looked over to see Barry's side of the bed empty. She hated that they were fighting but she had to stand her ground. This was important to her, He would just need to understand that.

Felicity was able to pull all of the doc's financial records. One thing that stuck out to Iris were the weekly payments to a motel that was near the seedy gym. Iris decided to go check it out. She drove down to the motel and parked the car where she would be able to get a good look. She noticed the same BMW in the parking lot that she had seen at the gym.

She pulled out her camera and waited. About 45 minutes had passed when someone opened the motel room door. Out came Mick Rory. Iris knew it, she was able to make at least one connection from the doc to the Cougars. What she did not expect was for Nate to walk out of the motel room as well. He walked to his vehicle and pulled off right after Rory did.

Iris needed to get into that room. She went to the front desk and pretended to be a guest. She told them that her fiancee locked the key in the room. Lucky for Iris, the girl at the front desk didn't ask any questions and gave her the room key.

When she got outside, she made sure to check to make sure that Nate was still gone. She tried to look through the window before she entered the room, but she was unable to see anything. She opened the room door and slowly walked in. She pulled out her phone to take pictures if she needed to.

She walked over to a table and there were papers all over the place. One of the papers had a list of names with some of them checked off with a dollar amount and date next to it. It appeared to be a list of clients and how much they had paid. Iris took a picture and uploaded it to her cloud just in case.

She walked over to the large cupboard that was in the corner of the room. It had a dead bolt on it but it wasn't locked. She opened the doors and was shocked at what she saw. There were used and unused syringes. There was also a mini fridge. When she opened the fridge she saw about 50 viles of some kind of drug. Iris took pictures of that as well.

Iris had been in the room long enough. She sneaked back out of the door and ran to her car. She was getting so close. She just had to prove that the doc was connected. Well the proof was already in the financial records, but she didn't obtain that information legally. Not only that, she didn't want to get Felicity into any trouble.

She pulled out of the motel parking lot and started heading back into town. She received a text from an unknown number.

**5545 5th Ave**   
**Space 10**   
**5pm**   
**Come Alone**

Iris didn't know what to think of the text. She always carried a taser for protection. She also could shoot a gun pretty well too, thanks to her cop father. She contemplate going by the loft to get her gun, but she looked at the time. If she left now, she would still barely make it to the meet on time. She would just have to take her chances.

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iris gets some unexpected help

Barry had a commercial shoot with Gatorade. This shoot was more of a team shoot. Several players from the team were involved including Oliver and Jax. This was the first time he was doing a live action shoot and was excited. He was still bummed out about what was going on with him and Iris, but he did his best to conceal how he was really feeling.

Oliver invited Barry to have dinner after the shoot, but he declined. Barry thought that it was time to go back home. He missed Iris and knew that they really did need to have a serious conversation that did not end in one of them walking out.

When he got home. Iris wasn't there yet. He figured that she was still at work. He decided to surprise her with grandma Esther's noodles, her favorite. Hopefully that could help break the ice and put her in a good mood.

Iris arrived at the address with 5 minutes to spare. It was a self storage unit. Iris wasn't sure who she was meeting. She was checking out the place when she heard footsteps. Iris braced herself for whoever was coming around the corner. She turned around and was shocked to see Caitlin Snow walking over to her.

"Caitlin, you sent me the text?"

"Yes," she answered, "I know that you have been investigating Zolomon."

"You sent the letter with the dates too?"

"Yes, that was me as well."

"Why are you helping me?"

Caitlin took a deep breath, "There are things going on within the organization that aren't right. I can't sit by and watch it continue to happen. I also can't come out with this information and keep my job."

"So, what kind of information do you have for me?"

Caitlin handed Iris a file, "This should give you everything that you need to bring down the doc."

Iris opened the file. There were letters and emails written between Dr. Zolomon and the head of the Cougars medical department. There were also copies of cashier checks that were written from the team to the doc.

"Caitlin this is amazing. I promise I am going to help bring this guy to justice. Don't worry, your name wont be anywhere near this."

"There is one more thing," Caitlin said as she walked towards the unit. "You probably don't know this, but Hunter and I dated for about a year. I left him when I found out about the steroids. He of course didn't know that I knew what was going on. This is his unit. Every week he gets a delivery here of the product. It's a special formula that is undetectable in drug tests."

Iris thought for a moment, "That is why he hasn't been caught."

Caitlin pulled a key out of her pocket and opened the unit. When they walked in, Iris was shocked to see all of the drugs. There weren't just the steroids, but all kinds of drugs. There was a shipping manifest hanging on the wall. Iris took out her phone and started taking photos of everything. "This is great!" she exclaimed. After she got what she needed, she and Caitlin left, going in opposite directions.

Iris had made it about a mile down the road when her car started sputtering. She was able to pull the car off to the side of the road. She popped the hood and got out of the car. As she was checking under the hood, she felt something hit her and then everything went black.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iris is missing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning** there is kidnapping in this chapter, but no violence.

When Iris woke up, she was in a place that she did not recognize. She was in a dark room and had her hands tied behind her back. When she finally remembered what happened, she became frightened. Her next thoughts were of Barry. The last time they spoke, it was a fight. If she was going to die tonight, she wished she could tell him how much she loved him and how much the time that the spent together meant to her. She was on the verge of tears when she heard muffled voices.

She tried to concentrate on what they were saying. She was able to make out that she was in some warehouse and that Zolomon was involved. She was wishing that she had told someone where she was going. She also wished that she had her phone. She was glad that she had sent all of the photos that she had taken to her cloud.

Just then, the door burst open. In walked Nate. "You just had to keep digging didn't you?" He said to her with as much venom he could muster. "Don't worry, I don't want to hurt you. I just want you to stop investigating the doc."

"You could have asked nicely," Iris was trying to be brave even though she was scared out of her mind. "You know, I have friends in the police department."

Nate just smirked at her, "I have a feeling that they won't find out about this, because you aren't going to tell them." He turned around and walked out of the door, leaving Iris alone in the dark again.

It was going on midnight and Iris still hadn't arrived home yet. Barry called her cell several times, but it kept going to voicemail. He thought maybe she was still at work and had her phone off. He got in his car and made his way down to CCPN. When he got there, he went to her office, but it was empty. He saw Linda in her office still working and went over to her.

"Hey Linda, have you seen Iris?"

"Not since earlier today. She left the office around 10 am, saying she was going to city hall for some interviews."

Barry was starting to get worried. "Thanks Linda." He called Felicity and Eddie, neither of them had seen Iris either. Barry drove straight to Joe's house. When Joe answered the door, Barry instantly started crying. "Iris is missing."

"What? What do you mean she is missing?" Joe moved back from the door and let Barry in.

"We got into a fight the other night about this Zolomon investigation. I left for a few days. I got back home tonight and she wasn't there. I can't find her and nobody has seen her since this morning."

Joe started to get upset, but pulled it back. Barry needed him to be strong right now. He knew he should have talked to her after he found out about the photos. He was trying to give her space to do her job, but now all he had was a tight chest filled with regret. "Okay, we will find her, I am going to go to CCPD, you go back to the loft in case she shows up." On the way towards the precinct, Joe called Eddie and told him to meet him there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the short chapters, there may be as many chapters as the last story, but probably not as long. Thanks everyone again for the support xx


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iris finds out who took her

When Joe arrived at CCPD, Eddie was already there. "I was able to get Iris' last location before her phone went dead. We should head over there now."

Joe and Eddie made their way to the location. When they pulled up, they saw Iris' car parked on the side of the road. Joe walked up to the car and looked in the window. There was nothing out of the ordinary. He had the spare key for the car, he attempted to turn it on and it would not work. He popped the hood and shined a flashlight to see better.

"It looks like the alternator belt was cut," he observed.

"Well that would explain why her car is parked on the side of the road. If it cut off on her, she surely would have gotten out to see what was wrong." Eddie offered.

Joe shined the flashlight on the ground around the car. Right underneath the front bumper, he found her cell phone. His worry increased ten fold. He started to believe that something bad may have happened to Iris. He didn't know how he was going to tell Barry.

Barry was at home pacing and worrying. He kept calling Iris' cell every few minutes, hoping that she would pick up. He heard a knock on the door and raced to open it, hoping it was Iris. Instead he was greeted by Wally.

"Hey man, my dad called me." Barry invited him in. "Barry, what's going on?"

"I dunno, we had a fight. I left and when I came back she was gone." He could barely get it out he was crying so hard. He couldn't believe how stupid he had been to leave Iris alone. He knew how dangerous this investigation was, he should have stood his ground more. Made her stop. "If something happens to her..."

"Hey man, it's okay," Wally tried to comfort him, "We are gonna find her." They sat together in silence for the next few hours.

Iris was trying to think of a way to get out of there. The binds that were tying her hands were getting looser. She didn't know where she was exactly but if she had a chance to run, she was going to. As she started working harder to get out of her binds, she heard footsteps coming towards the room.

To her surprise, in walked the doc. "You must not have gotten my warning Ms. West."

"What warning?"

"The photos we left at your home."

So that's who sent those photos. It made sense. "Well someone stupidly left them for my fiancee to find."

"Oh, you mean your QB fiancee. It would be really bad for him if it got out that he was taking performance enhancing drugs."

"Barry would never!"

"Yeah, but the test results won't lie, I mean, they won't once I change them. Of course, if you drop your investigation, I won't have to."

"You won't get away with this, I promise you."

"We'll see about that." He approached Iris with a syringe in hand. "Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you." He stuck Iris in the neck with the syringe and delivered the drugs.

Iris passed out shortly after he gave her the shot. About an hour later, she woke up in a daze. She no longer had her hands tied behind her back. She looked around and didn't recognize where she was. She couldn't remember what happened. She stood up and patted herself down looking for her phone. "Shit!" she thought to herself. She hailed a cab to take her home.  
  
When she walked through the door, Barry came running to her and grabbed her tight. "Oh my God, Iris, Are you okay?" He didn't give her a chance to respond, He held her tighter. "I was so worried about you. Where were you? Did Joe find you? Are you hurt? We should go to the hospital."

Iris was relieved that he wasn't angry. Before she could even start to answer any of his questions, she began crying in his arms. He led them over to the sofa and let her cry for as long as she needed to. He was just happy his Iris was back in his arms.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath

Iris finally fell asleep in Barry's arms. He laid her down on the sofa and got up to call Joe. He arrived at the loft with Eddie. As soon as he saw Iris, he ran up to her hugging her tight.

"I was so worried about you baby girl," Joe cried into her ear.

"I know dad. I'm sorry."

"I think we need to take you to the hospital to get checked out."

"Dad, I'm fine"

Barry interjected, "Iris, you are not fine. Please, for me, lets go get you checked out." Iris begrudgingly agreed.

At the hospital, they ran numerous tests. Turns out she was injected with a sedative. Luckily it was just enough to knock her out and did not do any damage. She had to get some stitches in her head from the hit, but other than that she was physically okay. The ER doctor recommended that she make an appointment to see a therapist.

Once back home, Iris went to take a shower. Joe and Eddie had come back over once she was released from the hospital. They knew that Iris probably just wanted to rest, but they needed to know what happened. Iris didn't really talk about it when she got home.

Barry convinced her to come downstairs after her shower. She sat down on the couch and started answering their questions.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Eddie asked.

"Um, I had met an informant. We had just went our separate ways. I think I was having car trouble and pulled over to check it out. Next thing I remember, I was waking up in the middle of downtown."

"Where did you meet this informant?" Joe continued.

"At a self storage unit on 5th ave." Iris was starting to remember what she found when Caitlin opened the unit. She also remembered that she had wisely put the folder she gave her in the trunk of her car, underneath the spare tire.

"Do you know who took you?" Eddie went back to the questions.

"No," but Iris had an idea. "I lost my phone."

"We recovered it by your car. We had the car towed to the police lot." Joe advised.

"When can I get my stuff back?"

Joe reached into his pocket and pulled out her cell phone. "You need to charge it."

Iris took the phone from him and made her way to the kitchen where she had a charger plugged up. Iris knew that it would probably be for the best to stop looking into the doc. But she had everything she needed. She couldn't stop now.

Joe and Eddie asked a few more questions and then left to go back to CCPD. They let Barry know that he could pick up Iris' car the next day. Once they were gone, Iris went upstairs and got into the bed. Barry was right behind her.

When Barry got into the bed, he pulled Iris as close to him as he could. She laid her head on his chest and he rubbed her back. They laid in silence for a while. He didn't want to say anything that may trigger or upset her. They both fell asleep. Iris tossed and turned all night. She kept having nightmares about being tied up in a dark room.

The next morning, Iris awoke with Barry staring at her. She thought he must have been really worried about her. The dreams had triggered something in her, because she was starting to remember some of what happened after she was knocked out.

She looked at Barry, "Barry, I'm sorry."

"Iris-"

"No wait, let me finish. I messed up. I messed up big. I should have told you what I was doing. Now I have put you and a lot of other people in danger." Iris started to cry again. Barry wiped the tears from her face.

"I'm, I'm starting to remember what happened. They took me to some warehouse, I don't know where. I remember being so scared. Not scared that I would die, but scared that I would never be able to tell you how much I loved you again."

He grabbed her and held her close. "Iris, I don't know what I would do if something ever happened to you. You made a mistake, people make mistakes. I just need you to promise me that you won't ever lie to me about something like this again. Even if I am not happy with it, I need to know. I love you too much. Okay?"

Iris tilted her head up and passionately kissed him. "Okay." She laid in his arms until she drifted off to sleep again.

Her editor told her she could take as much time as she needed. And she definitely needed it. She was having problems sleeping through the night. Her nightmares would wake her up in a cold sweat. She was grateful that every time she woke up, Barry was by her side to calm her back to sleep.

A few days later, she got a call from Eddie, telling her that he needed her to come down to the precinct. She hadn't been there because she didn't want to run into Patty, but she knew she needed to go. Barry had an event that he was supposed to go to for Gatorade. He wanted to blow it off, he didn't want to leave her side. Surprisingly Iris was able to convince him to go. He dropped her off at CCPD on his way.

Iris walked in and went straight to her dad's desk. "Hey dad."

"Hey baby girl. How are you feeling?"

She didn't want to tell him about the nightmares, "I'm doing okay considering."

"I don't want to give you a lecture," he walked over and hugged her, "But promise me you won't do something like that again okay."

"I promise." Just then Eddie walked over with someone she had never seen before.

"Iris, this is Laurel Lance. She is the ADA in starling city."

Iris shook Laurel's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"You too," she replied, "It seems you and me have a common goal, how about we go discuss it." Eddie led her and Iris to an empty interrogation room.

Once they were settled Laurel began, "What do you know about Hunter Zolomon?"


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start getting back to normal

Turns out, the DA's office in Starling City were investigating Zolomon as well. This was bigger than Iris thought. The doc had been supplying drugs to athletes in Starling as well. It was decided that Central City's DA was going to be joining the investigation as well. Iris agreed to give up what she found in exchange for the exclusive.

Iris was actually relieved that she didn't have to do any sneaking around anymore. She could now focus on making sure things were good with Barry and start planning a wedding. She didn't want to wait anymore, she was ready to be his wife.

Barry was happy to hear that the authorities were taking over the investigation. He didn't want Iris in any more danger. When he got home that night, he was glad to see Iris waiting for him. She seemed to be in better spirits. Iris had ordered delivery from the their favorite Thai place. They sat down together to eat.

"How are you feeling?" Barry asked concerned.

"Better. Laurel seems to be really good at her job."

"That's great. I'm glad they are taking over."

"Yeah," Iris sounded a bit guilty, "Barr, I know I said it before, but I am sorry for putting you through this."

Barry grabbed her hand, "I know your sorry. Now we can move past this and just look forward to the future."

"I've been thinking about that, our future I mean."

Barry's eyes perked up at that proclamation, "and..?"

"And I think that we should pick a date for the wedding. I don't want to wait anymore. I am ready to be Mrs. West-Allen."

Barry got up from the table and pulled out Iris' chair, He picked her up from the chair and spun her around placing kisses all over her neck. "I love you so much Iris."

"I love you too."

 

Barry was beaming when he met up with the guys at the gym. "What's got you in such a good mood?" Ronnie asked.

"I am going to be a married man soon," Barry answered unable to stop smiling.

"So Iris is finally ready to make you an honest man huh?" Oliver teased.

"Yes she is, now we have 2 months to plan and have a wedding before training camp starts."

"You have fun with that, you just tell us when and where." Scott dapped up Barry.

"Thanks guys, you don't know how much it means to me."

"Hey, how is Iris by the way? Kendra has been trying to meet up with her." Jax asked.

"Better. She is still having nightmares, and she refuses to drive her car anymore."

"Man, that's gotta be hard for her." Scott sounded concerned.

"We are getting through it, together," Barry started, "I think I may just surprise her with a new car, something without those bad memories and an Onstar or tracking system or something."

"That ain't a bad idea, why don't we check out some rides after we leave here? I know a guy." Ronnie offered.

"Yeah, yeah lets check some rides out for Iris." Barry agreed.

Linda came over to the loft to visit with Iris. "Are you sure you're doing okay Iris. You went through something extremely traumatic."

"I'm better. Barry has been really good to me and my dad and Wally check up on me everyday. It's only been a week. I'll be okay."

Linda reached over and gave her best friend a hug, "Don't ever do this again you hear me!"

"I promise. So, Barry and I have 2 months to plan a wedding and I need you help."

"Wait, so you guys picked a date?"

"Yeah, I have had time to reflect and being kidnapped made me realize I don't want to wait anymore. I am ready to marry the man that I love."

"Oh Iris, I am so happy for you. So what kind of wedding were you thinking?"

"Honestly, I just want something small and intimate. Barry doesn't have his parents anymore, he doesn't have any family, just me."

"How about Vegas?" Linda suggested.

"You know Lin, that may not be a bad idea."

Barry decided to buy Iris a new Mercedes SUV. He was having as many security features installed as possible. Ronnie thought that he was crazy when he added bulletproof glass, but Barry wasn't taking any chances. It would be a few days before everything was installed.

He made it home and went straight to find Iris. He missed her even more now when they were apart. He pulled her into a sweet kiss on the lips. "I love you." He was also telling her that as often as he could. They both sat on the sofa.

"I love you babe. So listen," Iris began, "Lin and I were talking and I think we should get married in Vegas."

"Vegas?"

"Yeah, I mean I didn't want a big wedding anyways. And we can just get a wedding package from some chapel or hotel, so they can do all the work."

"It sounds like it could be fun. I'm sure the guys would love to party in Vegas. Okay," he pulled Iris onto his lap, "Looks like were going to Vegas."


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry and Iris plan a wedding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the support xx

Another 2 weeks had passed. Both Central and Starling City's DA had enough to bring charges against the doc. Zolomon confessed to everything, including stalking, kidnapping and drugging Iris. Nate went down too. The cops raided his gym and found tons of illegal drugs. They both took a plea deal. Iris was happy about that, she wouldn't have to testify.

Her article was published shortly after the arrests. Iris thought it was the most important and well written article that she ever had published. When Barry read it the first thing out of his mouth was "Pulitzer". Iris thought that might be a stretch, but that didn't stop the huge smile that grazed her face.

The nightmares she was having were becoming less frequent. It helped getting the details on her attack. It helped even more knowing that they wouldn't be able to hurt her or Barry. The new truck that Barry bought her helped too. It made her feel safe. He made her feel safe. She did take the ER doctors advice and was seeing someone to help her through her trauma. She felt like everything was going to be okay.

The Cougars front office was in shambles. A lot of people were fired. Caitlin was safe. She decided to come clean about what she knew after Iris was attacked. The team owners were upset that Caitlin took so long to come forward, but were grateful that she did. The entire medical staff was replaced. The team worked with Mercury labs to come up with a test that could detect the steroid. All in all 10 players tested positive. They were all released from the team.

Barry knew that the next season was going to be rough. Not only did they lose a bunch of starters, but the team was going to have a target on their back because they were the champs. When Gatorade found out about the investigation and aftermath, they partnered with the team to put out several PSA's.

The next week, they headed to Vegas. Since it was last minute, and they could afford it, they paid for everyone to come. Of course Joe and Wally were there. Wally brought Jessie. Then there was the wedding party, Linda, the maid of honor, Felicity, Kendra bridesmaids. Scott, Ronnie, Jax were the groomsmen and Oliver the best man. Cisco and Cynthia were also in attendance, plus a few other friends from work and the team.

Barry had spared no expense. He actually chartered a private plane to get everyone there. They all stayed at the Four Seasons. Barry had booked the Presidential suite for he and Iris. They arrived a week before the ceremony so that they could make sure everything was planned and perfect.

They met with the wedding planner. They decided to have the ceremony in the rose garden at the hotel. Roses were special to Iris, since they were the first flowers Barry had ever brought her. They then decided they would have an intimate dinner made by none other than Wolfgang Puck. After dinner they would party the night away at an exclusive club on the strip.

After their meeting, they split up. Barry was going with the guys to get their tuxedos and Iris was going dress shopping with the girls. The girls had done more regular shopping than dress shopping when they came across a little boutique. Iris had tried on several dresses when she found the one. When she came out in it, Felicity was brought to tears. Once she started crying, they all did. Iris got a little sad thinking about how her mom wasn't there with her. "She's here in spirit." Felicity told her.

Everyone met up for dinner at Ruth Chris Steakhouse. Barry and Iris were both glowing. He couldn't remember a time when he was happier. He couldn't wait to marry the love of his life. After dinner they all went to a comedy show. They all had the best time. They didn't get back to their suite until the sun came up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope to have the story finished and posted tomorrow.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry and Iris plan a wedding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for the support xx

When Iris woke up Barry was still asleep. She just looked at him, thinking how cute he was when he was sleeping. She tried to creep out of bed, but she woke him.

"Good morning. Where are you going?" he asked barely awake.

Iris leaned down and kissed him, "Good morning. I was going to make some coffee."

"How about we order some room service and lay in bed for a little bit longer," he pulled her closer.

"I would love to, but the girls and I have a spa appointment and you need a hair cut."

Barry grimaced, "You're right." He kissed her and let her out of the bed. A few minutes later, he heard the shower. He decided to join her. He intended on them making love in there but Iris stopped him.

"No more until the wedding night."

"Really Iris, you're going to make me wait?"

She gave him a kiss, "It'll be worth the wait."

They got dressed and Iris headed out to meet up with the girls. Barry was supposed to go get the wedding bands. He had excellent taste in jewelry so Iris trusted him to pick out something good. Barry decided to take Joe with him. He liked spending time with Joe. After his parents died, he never had a figure to look up to. Joe always treated him like a son, and because of that he will always have high regard for him.

They arrived at the jewlery store. As Barry was looking at the options Joe said to him, "I am so proud of you two. I always thought that my baby girl deserved the world, and I am happy that it is you that is giving it to her."

"Thanks Joe. Iris is an amazing woman. You raised her well."

"Your parents would be proud of you." Joe patted him on the back.

"I know, I'd like to think they will be there."

Joe started getting teary eyed. He truely was happy for them. Barry picked out a plain platinum band for himself and a diamond band for Iris that would match her engagement ring. They then met up with the rest of the guys for hair cuts.

It was the night of the rehersal. Even just practicing marrying Iris was a joy to Barry. He couldn't wait for the real thing. He had been dreaming of watching Iris walk down the isle in all white since their first date. He couldn't believe someone like her agreed to marry him. After the rehersal, they had the rehersal dinner.

Once dinner was over. It was time for everyone to split up again. They each were going to their bachelor and bachelorette parties. Linda had planned Iris' and Oliver, Barry's. Before they went their separate ways, Barry and Iris took a moment together.

"Now you be good. No touching the stripper," Iris teased him.

"Don't worry, you are the only woman that I ever want to touch again." He leaned down and kissed her.

"And don't forget, You can't come back to the suite tonight, we can't see each other again until the ceremony."

Barry scrunched his face up. Iris reminded him, "Babe, it's bad luck. Promise me."

He kissed her again, "I promise."

"Okay you two," Linda walked over, "That's enough, you'll have plenty of time for that the rest of your lives. Now I am taking my friend and we are going to get wild tonight."

Iris rolled her eyes as she gave Barry one more peck on the lips and walked off with Linda.

"So Lin, where are we going?"

"It's a surprise, come on."

Iris walked with Linda and the rest of the girls out of the hotel. They were met by a party bus that Linda had rented. Once they were settled on the bus, Kendra pulled out the Bride sash and tiara for Iris to wear the rest of the night. They popped bottles of champagne and turned the music up.

The girls were drinking and dancing for a while, until the bus came to a stop. When they got off, they had arrived at burlesque show. Iris had never been to one and surprisingly had a great time. Once the show ended, the entertainers brought the girls on stage and gave them all a lesson on the art of burlesque. Iris would definitely be using those lessons on her honeymoon. When they were finished there, they got back on the bus to head to the next destination.

Barry and the guys night went a bit differently. Oliver had gotten them into an exclusive Poker club. They played several rounds of Texas hold'em. Laughing and talking. Being the groom must have given him luck because he won almost every hand he played. After an hour, Oliver announced it was time to go to their next destination.

The next stop was at a cigar bar. The guys spent the next hour smoking Cubans and drinking 50 year single malt scotch. "Now this is what I call heaven," Joe exclaimed when he took his first sip. All the guys laughed. The talked for a while. Barry was feeling a little bit tipsy, but not drunk. Once they finished up there, Joe said goodbye to the group. He wasn't a young man anymore and he had no desire to go to a club. After saying goodbye, they headed to the next place.

It was about 11:30 pm when the party bus pulled up to the club. When the girls walked into the club, the were immediately taken to VIP where there were already several bottles of champagne and Patron waiting on them. It was almost like the DJ was in Iris' head because she wanted to hear every song that he played.

They were dancing and having a good time. Iris was dancing by herself with her eyes closed when she felt hands around her waist. Ready to turn around and clock whoever was touching her, she realized it was Barry.

"Barr? What are you doing here?"

"Well, I saw the most beautiful woman ever dancing all alone, and I knew I had to meet her."

Iris smiled, she knew that they weren't supposed to see each other before the wedding, but he was looking so good. She leaned up and licked his lips open. They stood there kissing and dancing for the rest of the night. Linda wasn't even mad that Iris basically ditched the girls. She was happy that she found someone who loved her and treated her well.

"How'd you guys end up here anyways?" Linda asked Oliver.

"Looks like fate." he answered.

It was 2 am and time to leave the club. Iris and Barry didn't want to part, but gave each other one last kiss and said goodbye until tomorrow. The girls went to their suite and the guys went to another. As Barry was laying in bed, his phone went off with a text message.

**I can't wait to marry you tomorrow...I love you so much**

_I love you more_  



	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the day of the wedding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mild smut 
> 
> This is the final chapter to this story. I will post one more chapter with info about a future story

When Iris woke up the next morning with happy nervous butterflies. Felicity tried to get her to eat, but the smell of food was making her butterflies worse. She was able to drink some coffee and eat a piece of toast. Shortly after they finished breakfast there was knock on the door. The hair stylist and make up artist had arrived. While the girls were getting ready, they drank mimosas, laughed and talked.

"Okay so Felicity is obviously next," Iris began, "But who will be next to get engaged? Kendra?"

"I mean if Jax will ever get it together and ask me. I know he is getting all the hints I'm dropping." Everyone in the room laughed.

They had finally finished getting ready. It was almost time. While the girls were taking pictures, Joe walked in. As soon as he saw Iris he broke down in tears. The girls left the room to give them some privacy.

"Baby girl, you look absolutely beautiful." he choked out.

"Thank you Dad. Please don't make me cry and mess up my makeup."

"I'm just so proud of the woman you have become. Your mother would be proud too."

She hugged her father, "I love you Dad."

"I love you too baby girl." He reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope. "Your mother wrote this for you before she passed. She told me to make sure I give it to you on your wedding day." He handed her the letter and kissed her on the cheek. He left the room so she could read the letter. Iris sat down on the chaise and pulled out the letter. It read,

_Iris,_   
_My beautiful little girl. I am so proud of the woman that you will become. When you were first born and I held you in my arms for the first time, I knew that you were going to be special. I knew that you would be destined for great things. On your big day, know that I wish I was with you, but I am watching, and I am so proud. Always remember you are a strong, smart, beautiful soul and there wasn't one day that I didn't love you with all of my heart. Tell your new husband that if Dad approved, than I approve as well. I love you._

_xx_   
_Mom_

By the time she got to the end of the letter, she was bawling. Thank god the makeup artist hadn't left yet. Once she got herself together, the party made their way to the rose garden.  
  
The music started and the bridesmaids and maid of honor made it down the aisle. When Iris came around the corner, Barry almost passed out. She was wearing a beautiful strapless, floor length, white A-line gown that accentuated her tiny waste line. He could clearly make out the smile on her face even through her veil. When she made it to the end of the isle, he father kissed her on the cheek and presented her to Barry.

When he lifted her veil and was able to get a clear look at her face, he began crying. Seeing him cry caused Iris to start crying as well.

"You look so beautiful," he whispered to her.

They got to the part of the ceremony where it was time to exchange vows. Barry went first. "Iris Ann West, I have loved you since the day that I met you. You mean more to me than anything in this world. You have helped me to be a better man. You are my best friend, you are my home. I will give you the moon if you ask me to. I promise that from this day forward, I will spend every moment I can showing you how much I love you."

By now, there wasn't a dry eye in the house. Iris pulled herself together. "Bartholomew Henry Allen, I never thought that I would fall as in love as much as I am with you. You taught me not be afraid of love and the future. You make me feel special, and you make me feel safe. When I am with you, nothing else matters but us. I promise you that you will never have to feel alone again and that I will always be with you no matter what. I love you Barry, and I will make sure you never forget it."

They exchanged rings and were pronounced man and wife. When it was time for their first kiss as a married couple. Barry grabbed Iris and dipped her into a long wet passionate kiss. When they finally came up from air, everyone was clapping and laughing.

They took pictures in the rose garden for the next hour. They had a cocktail hour arranged before dinner. There was an open bar and hors d'oeuvres being served. That gave time for Iris and Barry to sneak up to their suite to change and spend a few moments together.

When they got to the room, they headed straight the the bedroom. Linda had arranged rose petals all over the floor leading to the bed. On the bed, there were rose petals shaped as a heart. They had barely made it into the room when Barry snatched Iris by her waist and pulled her close to him. "I love you Iris West-Allen." He pulled her into a lingering kiss.

"I love you too husband." She kissed him again. "We have about 20 minutes and I don't know if I will ever put this dress on again." She looked at him provocatively. Barry knew what she was hinting at and walked her over to the bed where he gently laid her down. He kissed her all over her exposed neck line. He had a cheeky smile when he grabbed her legs and pulled her to the edge of the bed. He then lifted her dress and put his head underneath it. He must have been down there for 10 minutes before Iris cried out in ecstasy. He came up from under her dress and climbed on top of her. It didn't take long for the wave of pleasure to hit Iris again, it hit Barry shortly after.

They cleaned themselves up and went down to the cocktail hour. Iris had changed into a cute spaghetti strapped knee length white dress. They mingled with their guests and drank champagne. There was a small dance floor and romantic music playing. Barry and Iris had their first dance to 'At Last'. Iris danced with her dad and her brother as well.

After the cocktail hour, they all sat down for dinner. Getting Wolfgang Puck to prepare their food was nothing short of a blessing. There were 6 courses and a beautiful chocolate cake decorated with roses. Iris was planning out how she was going to sneak Wolfgang back to Central City in her suitcase.

Oliver stood up and made his best man speech. "I haven't known Barry and Iris long, but in the short time we have been acquainted, we have become the best of friends. When Barry told me that he was going to marry Iris, I wasn't just happy for him for finding love, I was happy for him because he found his soul mate. Watching the two of them together has helped me become a better partner to Felicity, and for that, I thank you. Here is to many years of Happiness, to Barry and Iris."

Barry got up and hugged Oliver, "Thank you man."

After dinner, everyone headed out to the exclusive club to party into the night. By 1am, Iris was ready to have Barry take her to bed. The two of them left while everyone else stayed and partied. When they got back to the suite, Barry undressed Iris and they enjoyed each other a few times. While they were laying in bed cuddle up, he kissed Iris on her head. "Thank you for making me the luckiest man alive. I love you."

"I love you too, husband."

Barry had never been so thankful that Iris had an obsession with brownies or he may have never had a chance to be this happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I lost my mom the 3 days before I got married, so the letter written was from Iris' mom is from the heart.
> 
> Thank you all again for the support on this story xx


	19. Chapter 19

I think that I will do one more story to this series. I have not yet decided if it will pick up from here or if I should do a 1 or 2 year time jump. Please leave comments here or my tumblr @katieb161 with any suggestions.

I again want to thank everyone for sticking with me and all of the support. This story was a little more difficult for me and I hope I was able to do it justice. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back!! Thanks for all the support and comments. It really means a lot to me. Also, I am terrible at naming things so i apologize for the crappy title.


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